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ARCHIVED -
Circular No. 423

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Archived

Circular No. 423

TO ALL LICENSEES OF BROADCASTING UNDERTAKINGS SERVING THE PROVINCE OF
ALBERTA

On 11 February 1997, a Provincial
Election was announced in Alberta. The Election will occur on 11 March
1997.

The Commission reminds licensees
that the "black-out" period for partisan political programs, including
election campaign advertising, has been eliminated from the Broadcasting
Act since 1991. However, licensees should note that this pertains to
the "black-out" period under the Broadcasting Act only and that
applicable electoral laws may vary from province to province with respect
to campaign advertising or other matters. Licensees are advised to seek
appropriate advice relating to matters of provincial jurisdiction.

Any questions pertaining to
applicable provincial legislation should be referred to Alberta's Chief
Electoral Officer.

The attached guide is intended
for all radio and television stations, specialty television services and
cable television licensees serving any part of Alberta.

Extra copies of the guide are
available upon request to the CRTC.

Any inquiry relating to
broadcasts of partisan political character should be addressed to the CRTC,
by letter, by telegram, by fax or by telephone, confirmed by letter.

Mailing address:CRTCOttawa, OntarioK1A ON2

Telecopier: (819) 994-0218

TelephoneBill Howard: (819) 997-5523Donald Rhéaume: (819) 997-5523

Allan J. DarlingSecretary General

ATTENTION STATION MANAGERS

Please distribute to News
Department, Program Department, Sales Department, Traffic Department and
any other affected personnel.

PROVINCIAL GENERAL ELECTION -
GUIDELINES FOR BROADCAST LICENSEES

Broadcasting Act and
Regulations

The following material is drawn
from the Broadcasting Act and Regulations.

I. The Broadcasting Act

A. Sections 3(1)(i)(i) and
3(1) (i)(iv) of the Act declare that:

"the programming provided by the
Canadian broadcasting system should

i) be varied and comprehensive,
providing a balance of information, enlightenment and entertainment for
men, women and children of all ages, interests and tastes,

iv) provide a reasonable
opportunity for the public to be exposed to the expression of differing
views on matters of public concern, ..."

B. Temporary Network
operations are subject to the Act and a request for such operations must be
submitted to the Commission for prior approval. See Section 2 of the
Broadcasting Act.

II. The Broadcasting
Regulations

The Radio Regulations, 1986
and Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987 (Sections 6 and 8
respectively) read as follows:

"Political Broadcasts

During an election period, a
licensee shall allocate time for the broadcasting of programs,
advertisements or announcements of a partisan political character on an
equitable basis to all accredited political parties and rival candidates
represented in the election or referendum."

"Election period" means:

"(a) in the case of a (federal
or) provincial election (or of a federal, provincial or municipal
referendum), the period beginning on the date of the announcement of the
election or referendum and ending on the date the election or referendum is
held."

The Television Broadcasting
Regulations, 1987, Section 11(4), reads as follows:

(4) In addition to the maximum of
12 minutes of advertising material set out in subsection (1), a licensee
may broadcast partisan political advertising during an election period.

"Where a licensee provides time
on its service during an election period for the distribution of programs,
advertisements or announcements of a partisan political character, the
licensee shall allocate the time on an equitable basis to all accredited
political parties and rival candidates represented in the election or
referendum."

"Election period" has the same
definition as that set out in the radio and television regulations.

Section 15 of the Cable
Television Regulations, 1986 states:

"Where a licensee provides time
on its community channel during an election period for the distribution of
programming of a partisan political character, the licensee shall allocate
that time on an equitable basis to all accredited political parties and
rival candidates."

"Election period" has the same
definition as that set out in the radio and television regulations.

III. Following are some
excerpts from Public Notice CRTC 1988-142 entitled "A Policy with Respect
to Election Campaign Broadcasting" which are applicable to federal and
provincial general elections.

A. The Underlying Rationale

Throughout the history of
broadcasting in Canada, licensees, as part of their service to the public,
have been required to cover elections. Moreover, where licensees have
allocated paid or free campaign time, they have been required to do so in a
manner that is equitable to all political parties and rival candidates.

The purpose of these requirements
is to ensure the public's right to be informed of the issues involved so
that it has sufficient knowledge to make an informed choice from among the
various parties and candidates. This right is a quintessential one for the
effective functioning of a democracy, particularly at election time. The
broadcaster's obligation as a trustee of the public airwaves is seldom
greater than it is in respect to this exercise of the most fundamental
democratic freedom.

As the Commission noted in
Circular No. 334:

"It is the broadcaster's duty to
ensure that the public has adequate knowledge of the issues surrounding an
election and the position of the parties and candidates. The broadcaster
does not enjoy the position of a benevolent censor who is able to give the
public only what it "should" know. Nor is it the broadcaster's role to
decide in advance which candidates are "worthy" of broadcast time."

From this right on the part of
the public to have adequate knowledge to fulfill its obligations as an
informed electorate, flows the obligation on the part of the broadcaster to
provide equitable -- fair and just -- treatment of issues, candidates and
parties. It should be noted that "equitable" does not necessarily mean
"equal", but, generally, all candidates and parties are entitled to some
coverage that will give them the opportunity to expose their ideas to the
public.

The question of equitable
treatment applies to parties and to candidates; to programs, advertisements
and announcements; to federal, provincial and municipal elections, as well
as to referenda. Equity also applies to the duration of broadcasts, to
scheduling, to potential audience, to the choice of which electoral
districts and offices to cover, to language of broadcast, to issue coverage
and approach, to conditions under which an appearance may be made, and --
in the case of paid-time programming --to price.

The Commission acknowledges that
each licensee's situation is unique. The Commission has no firm rules to
cover all aspects of election campaign broadcasting; to some extent it will
have to deal with situations on a case-by-case basis.

B. Equity in Various
Categories of Broadcast

Political campaign broadcasts
generally fall into four categories:

i) Paid-time - Time bought
and paid for by or on behalf of parties or candidates or advocacy groups,
and largely under the editorial control of the advertiser.

ii) Free time - Time given
free of charge by the licensee to the party or candidate, and largely under
the editorial control of the party or candidate.

iii) News - Coverage of
the campaign by licensee's news department, and under the editorial control
of the licensee.

iv) Public Affairs -
In-depth examinations of candidates and issues, profiles of candidates,
debates, and under the editorial control of the licensee.

There may be some "blurring" of
the latter two categories given that, for example, they may be part of the
station's "news package" and may involve the same station personnel.

If one party or candidate
receives free time, all rival parties and candidates must be offered
equitable time.

Similarly, if paid advertising
time is sold to any party or candidate, advertising time must be made
available on an equitable basis to rival parties and candidates.

In the case of conflicts between
requirements for equity with respect to paid advertising time and sold-out
commercial schedules, it is the Commission's view that such conflicts
should be resolved in favour of the electoral process and in accordance
with the principle of equity:

Equity in News Coverage
(category iii)

The Commission agrees with the
arguments put forward that news coverage should generally be left to the
editorial judgement of the broadcast licensee.

However, Section 3 of the
Broadcasting Act requires that "the programming originated by broadcast
undertakings should be of high standard" and "the programming provided by
the Canadian broadcasting system should provide a reasonable opportunity
for the public to be exposed to the expression of differing views on
matters of public concern". Licensees have an obligation under this section
to ensure that their audiences are informed of the main issues and of the
positions of all candidates and registered parties on those issues.

Equity in Public Affairs
Programming (category iv)

Section 3 of the Broadcasting Act
must also be applied when presenting public affairs programs, such as party
or candidate profiles, features on certain issues or panel discussions.

Equity requirements will apply
within each of the categories of paid-time, free time, news and public
affairs programs.

Licensees who program in more
than one language should take into consideration that a political broadcast
in one language cannot be construed as balancing a political broadcast in
another language.

The equitable time requirement is
triggered at the later of (a) the date a candidate is nominated or (b) the
date on which an election is called.

Not all candidates are nominated
at the same time; some, for strategic or other reasons, may not be
nominated until well into a campaign. In the Commission's view, there is no
obligation on the part of licensees to compensate late entrants for time
previously afforded other candidates following the election's call.

Late-entry candidates should
receive equitable coverage from the time they enter the campaign.

For some licensees the provision
of equitable coverage to all the candidates running for office in all of
the electoral districts reached by the station could amount to an unwieldy
proposition.

In the Commission's view, the
decision should be made by the licensee, in consideration of three
principal factors: the station's service area (i.e., the area it is
licensed or committed to serve), its signal coverage area, and the
practical aspect based on the number of electoral districts and candidates.

The Commission remains persuaded
that on-air personalities, whether they are employed on radio or television
or community programming channels of cable systems, even if their exposure
is solely in the role of commercial announcer, have an unfair advantage
over their opponents.

Accordingly, the licensee has the
responsibility to ensure that such candidates be removed from their on-air
duties during the election campaign period as defined in the regulations
(the Radio Regulations, 1986, the Television Broadcasting
Regulations, 1987, the Cable Television Regulations, 1986 and
the Specialty Services Regulations, 1990) or on the date their
candidacies are announced, whichever is later. Offering similar on-air
opportunity to an on-air candidate's opponents is no longer an option.

In Public Notice CRTC 1995-44
issued on 15 March 1995, the Commission announced that it will no longer
require that so-called "debates" programs feature all rival parties or
candidates in one or more programs. The licensee will have satisfied the
balance requirement of the Broadcasting Act if reasonable steps are
taken to ensure that their audiences are informed on the main issues and of
the positions of all candidates and registered parties on those issues
through their public affairs programs generally.

IV. Advertising Content

Licensees shall log as
advertising material any paid program, advertisement or announcement of a
partisan political character which, including the partisan identification
of the sponsor and the party, if any, is two (2) minutes or less in
duration.

Television licensees are reminded
that under the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987 (recent
amendments), partisan political advertising, including advocacy
advertising, is excluded from the calculation of the amount of advertising
they broadcast. The Commission advises other licensees that, for this
election, any advertising material of a partisan political character with
regard to the election, regardless of length, may be treated as program
material by licensees who are not prohibited from carrying advertising
material by regulation or condition of licence.

To circumvent certain logging
software problems that have occurred in the past, television licensees
should continue to log such material as "COM". However, to distinguish
election advertising material from other television commercials, licensees
should insert "ELE" at the beginning or end of the field that is used to
identify the advertiser or the title of the advertisement. For FM radio,
such material may be logged as category "6" instead of category "5".

V. Of Special Interest to
Cable Television Systems - Community Channels

No cable operator is obliged to
engage in political programming.

However, if the cable licensee
decides to engage in political programming, then the Commission suggests
that the following criteria be respected for the two types of political
programming normally carried by cable systems:

- free access political
programming; and

- programming produced under the
editorial control of the cable television licensee.

A. Free Access Political
Programming

In this type of programming, time
is made available to be used freely and without the intervention of the
licensee whether as moderator or in terms of the production process,
providing that the general rules regarding existing laws for libel and
slander and the broadcasting guidelines respecting equitable treatment are
followed. While, as with any community programming, the licensee is
ultimately responsible for the program content, the candidate or party is
afforded the widest possible latitude and control.

B. Political Programming Under
the Editorial Control of the Licensee

Programs produced under the
editorial control of the cable licensee are those programs over which
the licensee retains control as to format, participants, and where he
directly intervenes in the production process as a moderator or otherwise.

These programs can be likened to
public affairs programs. Such programming must be done on an equitable
basis for all political parties and rival candidates and must conform
to the Commission's regulations and policies respecting community
programming.